


Trouble, In All It’s Clever Forms

by Between_A_Dream



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Drama, F/F, Romance, Teacher AU, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 17:56:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16023011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Between_A_Dream/pseuds/Between_A_Dream
Summary: Waverly Earp is positive that being hired as an AP English teacher in a school over 2,000 miles away from her hometown will be the beginning of a new chapter in her life, but it seems trouble has no problem presenting itself wherever she ends up- This time in the form of a bubbly, ginger-haired biology teacher that doesn’t seem to understand the concept of volume or remember the common practice of closing doors.Nicole Haught has no idea how to react when she discovers her advanced level biology room is now located across the hall from the new AP English class, and by default the new AP English teacher, but when she catches sight of the gorgeous brunette she’ll be working within in 15 feet daily, she apparently forgets that explosions are much louder to ears not covered by protective ear muffs, or that her door is still wide open.





	Trouble, In All It’s Clever Forms

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!!! I have been really invested in chapter stories and AU’s right now, and I have no idea why! I’ve just been super excited to write a bunch of new content, and I have about 50 current WIP (No that’s not an exaggeration, I’m not kidding. I’m literally serious) So you can definitely except a lot of new work coming out soon!!! This is going to be another slow burn AU set in the real world, with a lot of enemies-to-lovers elements in it, but it’ll be more a sequence of enemies-to-friends-to-lovers. The characters will be relatively the same as in the show, but of course certain elements will be absent because they only exist in the show due to the supernatural elements. Lots of fluff, lots of angst, lots of humor and drama to come!
> 
> From what I’ve planned out in this story so far, it doesn’t look like there will be any instances involving self harm or suicidal thoughts, but I know those are sometimes common elements in stories that I write so I will be sure to always pre-warn all readers before each chapter if trigger warnings do apply and if they ever are involved or mentioned I will update the story tags as necessary. There will likely be some mentions of anxiety and depression, but they will not be prominent themes of the plot and are not mentioned in this chapter, nor will they be included in any of the next few chapters that will be posted.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this story and give me some feedback!! Honest, even if your review is just a suggestion on how to improve my work, I appreciate any and all commentary! (Of course, this applies only to comments and reviews that are appropriate, constructive, encouraging, or at least respectful/professional in their delivery of negative feedback.) Let me know what you think!

Well, if the day could’ve possibly gotten any worse, Waverly would have loved to see how.

Wait, no, that’s not what she meant. God, that isn’t what she meant at all.

No, she _definitely_  didn’t want to see things getting worse, not when they were already spiraling towards disaster and picking up speed with every passing moment. She wasn’t even sure what else possibly _could_  happen that would make her situation any less ideal, and she certainly wasn’t keen on finding out.

The school day hadn’t even officially started yet- Wouldn’t for another two hours or so, but she’d arrived early with the hope that she would have some time alone to prepare herself for a classroom full of sleep-deprived seniors that definitely wouldn’t be interested in listening to a lecture about Shakespeare at 8:00 in the morning.

She couldn’t tell whether it was better or worse that she hadn’t been hired until halfway into the school year, right at the beginning of the second semester, but with her luck, it likely wasn’t a good thing. She had been involved in a program during her own high school years that allowed her to graduate with an associates degree, and she had finished the next two years worth of school to earn a bachelors online, simply because it was self-paced and much more convenient while trying to simultaneously work enough shifts at her part time job as a barista to pay rent. She had a large savings account set aside in the bank, but it was specifically there with the intended purpose of a down payment on a reliable vehicle and enough to cover her for roughly a year’s worth of rent in better living conditions.

But despite this, finishing her classes in the middle of the school year hadn’t initially given her the easiest change at gaining full-time employment in teaching English for secondary education. She knew it was by pure luck alone that she’d managed to find the open position online while scouring the web for anything she could find. She had immediately sent in her digital resume and an online application, and was called not two days later by the superintendent of the school district to tell her that if she wanted the job and would come in for a brief interview/introduction, she was hired. They’d explained the list of candidates they had to choose from was limited, the reason being that the position was only open due to the previous English teacher’s recent death after suffering from a sudden heart attack.

It was because of the sudden opportunity and completing all her classes virtually that Waverly had no real experience actually teaching in front of students. She’d never suffered a fear of public speaking before, at least when the topic was of something she was educated in, but she’d also never had to stand at the front of a room filled with the hardest audience she’d ever have to please.

And, with this all in mind, she’d arrived early, hoping that before school officially began that she would have the time to wrap her head around things. But of course, because the universe just _had_  to mess around with her, she hadn’t been granted a few peaceful hours in the dark for preparation, and she hadn’t gotten around to even organizing the classroom. No, instead she’d been suddenly interrupted, not 10 minutes after her arrival, by the sound of a loud bang from somewhere across the hallway, subsequently managing to make her spill scalding coffee in her hair as well as over the front of her white button-up blouse- And, in the midst of her panic from the sound- Drop and lose her glasses.

So now there she was- Partially blind, royally pissed off at whoever the hell was blowing things up at 5:30 in the morning, and in desperate need of a shower. And maybe a change of clothes if the universe would so grace her with such luxuries.

She must have yelped out in surprise after the noise, because not a minute after the air had settled she saw a figure appear in the doorway. All she could make out in her current state of vision was a mane of fiery red curls and a tall, slender frame, and she conclusively confirmed that her acquaintance was a woman. But none of that currently was important, because this woman was the only other person in the building that the new English teacher was aware of- At least she hadn't seen anyone else inside, and the teacher parking lot was relatively empty. Whoever this red headed stranger was, she currently sporting the top of Waverly’s “I-really-don’t-like-you-right-now-and-you-owe-me-a-new-cup-of-coffee” list.

“Crap! I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize my door was still open when I-“ before she even got a chance to finish, the brunette across the room cut her off.

“Seriously? You’re messing with explosives, in a _school_  not to mention, and you didn’t even bother to make sure everything was safe?” she snapped in the woman’s direction. “What the hell were you even doing?” Trying not to move out of fear that she would end up stepping on and breaking her glasses wasn’t easy when not having a solid grip on her vision was making her feel somewhat dizzy, but she remained standing with her feet planted firmly on the floor as she waited for a response. She heard a slight wince of discomfort and saw the figure move closer, but was unable to clearly make out any distinct facial features of the woman.

“I’m so sorry, it’s completely my fault, I was just testing a lab for class today and we’ll... I guess it might need a few more tests,” a small, nervous chuckle followed the taller woman’s voice. “I’m an idiot for leaving that door open, that really was a stupid thing to do, but honest- I had no idea it would explode like that, or scare you. Scouts honor,” Waverly could make out the woman holding up three fingers in solidarity with her statement.

“Were you even a scout?” the shorter woman hadn’t meant for her words to sound so harsh, but currently common decency wasn’t the most relevant thing on her mind, considering her shirt was sticking to the front of her chest and likely revealing way more than she was comfortable with.

“Ah- Here, let me get those for you,” instead of answering, the ginger haired woman approached and knelt down in front of her companion, standing back up after a moment with something in her possession. Waverly felt her glasses return to her hand as the woman stood and she fastened them quickly on her face, her eyes adjusting well enough that she could more clearly make out her acquaintance.

She was indeed tall and had an impressive nest of auburn locks cascading down from her head. She was clothed in a pair of black pants and a faded t-shirt, covered by a white lab coat. She had a pair of ear guards around her neck as well, and when she offered an apologetic smile, a pair of dimples appeared on either corner of her lips.

“Uh, here,” she quickly knelt down once again to pick up Waverly’s nearly empty coffee cup, handing it back with a sheepish grin. The brunette woman was unsure how to react, and for a moment she could only stand in her current position, unable to think of what to say in response.

“Thanks,” Waverly managed to mumble out the word, still partially in shock and disgusted with the sticky residue of coffee on her skin. Where the hot liquid had stained the front of her clothes a caramel scented shade of deep hazel, it was now growing cold, and she felt shivers involuntarily crawl up her back. The woman in front of the brunette didn’t seem to notice this, and instead held out her hand in greeting. She waited until Waverly shook back before continuing.

“Nicole Haught, advanced level biology. I teach across the hall,” she introduced herself easily, dimples on full display. “You’re Waverly Earp, right? The new English teacher?” the ginger finally broke the silence when it stretched on for a few moments too long.

“Yeah, yeah that’s me. AP Senior English,” the shorter woman confirmed.

“All the teachers were notified that you were hired over break. It was a pretty big shock, Riley having a heart attack right before New Years,” Waverly then realized that her new acquaintance was talking about the former English teacher.

“Oh, right... I’m sorry about her, did you know her well?” Nicole shrugged her shoulders a bit uncomfortably, and looked down for a moment with a brief glimpse of loss. But, as quickly as it had come it had gone, and she quickly looked back up to give her response to the question.

“I knew her well enough. We talked if we saw each other in the hallways or the cafeteria, but we were never close or anything. But it still kinda hurt though, ya know? Loosing someone you never really got the chance to know,” the biology teacher sighed, and her words trailed off as she stood pensively for a few passing seconds, then suddenly she jumped and shook her head as if to clear it, seemingly remembering where she was.

“I’m sorry, that isn’t important right now. Oh... Uh, jeez... Your shirt,” she glanced down at the large caramel colored coffee stain across the front of Waverly’s blouse and her lips twisted into a frown. “Come on, I have something you can wear,” Nicole lead the pair across the hallway without waiting for a response, and she made her way to a messenger bag on the chair behind her desk where she pulled out a cyan blue sweater. “I know it’s not much, and it may be a little long on you, but it should work for today. Lab days I wear this whole getup anyway, so I won’t need it for the rest of the day,” she gestured towards her current outfit, then held the sweater out towards Waverly. She was hesitant at first, but eventually realized that a coffee stained blouse wasn’t exactly the best outfit to wear while trying to make a good first impression on her students.

“Thanks,” she finally mumbled, reaching out and taking the sweater in her own hands. The material was softer than it looked, and a sweet but faint aroma of vanilla sugar wafted up from the article of clothing. Nicole quickly turned her back to face the opposite wall of the classroom, and after a moment of hesitation Waverly quickly attempted to pull her button up over her head. Unfortunately, about halfway through pulling the shirt up, the brunette felt the shirt constrict her movements, and she found herself unable to fully remove her top.

Brief panic set in as her initial reaction, and as she continued to struggle Waverly felt her hair pull from her motions. After a few moments had passed, she realized she was only making it worse by trying to move any further. Red faced, frustrated, and incredibly embarrassed, she reluctantly gave up her efforts and let her arms relax.

“Um... Nicole? I’m uh... I’m stuck,” she watched Nicole turn around in surprise, and she couldn’t hold back a small chuckle at the amusing scene in front of her.

“Oh! Jeez, lemme help you... I gotcha,” the biology teacher laughed as she helped Waverly pull the blouse successfully over her head, leaving her exposed in a white bra in the middle of the classroom.

“Thanks,” Waverly quickly pulled the sweater over her head and let it slide down over her body the instant her blouse was completely removed, the scent of vanilla stronger now that the garment was now on her body.

“Don’t mention it,” Nicole offered a dimpled smile and looked down at the blouse in her hands. “You know, I could probably get this stain removed, though it’ll take a few hours for the chemicals to work. Do you want me to just hold on to this for now and I can give it back to you at the end of the day?”

“That depends... Is your stain removal formula also going to result in an explosion?” Waverly felt herself crack a small smile, though it didn’t do much to take away from her irritability. The ginger woman grinned in response, and after a moment, she held up three fingers once more.

“Scouts honor.”

* * *

Nicole couldn’t help it, she really couldn’t. It was like she wasn’t even in control of her own body anymore. She just couldn’t keep from letting her eyes wander through the window of her classroom doorway, and just so happen to land on the visible form of Waverly Earp across the hallway, sitting at her own desk and staring down at her phone. Her classroom was currently empty- The students had left for lunch only a few minutes prior- And an untouched salad remained open on her desk.

She’d known for about a week that the English room was being moved so it was just across the hallway, and she’d known that the transition to a new teacher halfway through the school year would be difficult on some of the students. But what she hadn’t known was that the new teacher would happen to be someone as stunning as the brunette she had come face to face with just hours before. And because she hadn’t known that, she’d nearly blown herself up and caused said new teacher to spill coffee all over herself. What a great first impression she had made.

If anyone fell fast when it came to romance, Nicole was more than well aware it was herself. She hadn’t really meant to lie to Waverly about how well she knew the former English teacher, but she wasn’t sure how a perfect stranger might have responded if she’d told the truth, if she’d told the shorter brunette how she had really felt about Riley Matthews.

“Nicole! Are you still doing it! I want to see!” a loud, shrill voice pierced the silence of Nicole’s classroom and snapped her back to reality with a jolt. Blinking rapidly and shaking her head to clear her mind, the ginger woman looked up to see two familiar figures in her doorway and chuckled to herself.

“Yeah Jer, I’m still doing it, but shut the door will you!” Nicole laughed and gestured for Jeremy and Dolls to walk in, watching just to make sure they actually closed the door behind them.

“I can’t believe they actually gave you permission to do this in the school!” Jeremy marveled at the set up on the lab tables already prepared for the next class, kneeling down and examining the chemicals that were laid out.

“Well, most of the class consists of them first writing a hypothesis about each of the chemicals and their explosive properties first, and then the experiments are all done behind safety glass,” Nicole explained, but her colleague already seemed lost in his own world as he tried to explain the experiment to Dolls, who only seemed more confused the more Jeremy tried to explain.

The three of them had been good friends since they started teaching together. Dolls had been the school’s assistant gym coach for two years before Nicole and Jeremy came to the school together, both graduates of the same college and interested in teaching jobs, though while Nicole specialized in biology, Jeremy’s passion was chemistry. However, they often did overlapping lessons and experiments that continued to intrigue each other.

They had met Dolls one day in their first few weeks at the school during lunch break, and immediately hit it off. Nicole had even challenged him to a game of basketball after work one day, and it soon became a routine for them to meet up for games in the gym every Tuesday and Thursday after the school had closed. Jeremy, while he enjoyed their company, preferred simply watching their games instead of actually playing in them, and had found he made a pretty decent referee. Over their past few years teaching together, they’d quickly gone from coworkers to close friends.

“So what’s the verdict?” The question startled Nicole out of her thoughts and she shook her head to clear her mind.

“What?” she asked after a moment, clearly a bit dazed. Dolls laughed and shook his head in amusement.

“Damn Haught, I don’t know how you keep from daydreaming long enough to teach a lesson. I asked what the verdict is? About the new AP English teacher? She’s across the hall right?” Immediately Nicole felt her cheeks flush, and she shrugged quickly.

“I don’t know. She’s nice, we met earlier,” the ginger haired woman could tell she didn’t sound very believable, suspicions that were confirmed by the doubtful looks she received from her coworkers. “She is! Really!”

“What happened that you’ve already made a fool out of yourself?” Jeremy asked with a grin, and Nicole’s head hung in defeat.

“Earlier I was testing the lab... And I may have forgotten to close the door before setting off an explosion... Which may have caused her to spill coffee all over her shirt...” she admitted with an embarrassed blush, cringing just at the memory of her previous stupidity. She wasn’t surprised when she was met with laughter, but it didn’t stop her from glaring at the two men across the room.

“Oh man Nicky, you really gotta work on introductions. Are you like this with all new people or do you only make bad first impressions on English teachers?” Jeremy chuckled, but his laughter quickly faded when he saw the look of horror and guilt that Nicole knew must have immediately formed on her face. “Shit Nicole, I wasn’t... I mean- I didn’t mean to- I wasn’t trying to say...” he trailed off helplessly, and the biology teacher waved her hand dismissively.

“No, I know you didn’t... It’s fine,” she promised, reaching up to wipe at her eyes before any tears made their way down her cheeks. Both Jeremy and Dolls moved to hug her, but she quickly held up her hands to keep them at arms length. “Guys I’m fine, really. Riley and I... Well I don’t really know what we had or what we were, but it doesn’t matter anymore. She’s gone, and I’m fine. Really.” Of the three people in the biology room, no one believed that for a second.

* * *

“Nicole!”

Hearing her name caught the ginger haired woman off guard, and she turned to see Waverly quickly walking towards her.

“Waverly, uh, hi!” Nicole offered up as best a smile as she could in the frigid January air that surrounded them in the parking lot. School had ended a few hours back, but she was only just now leaving because she typically stayed after to grade assignments and tests. She found she worked better in an environment away from home, so her classroom was always convenient in the evenings.

“Hey, I uh... I just w-wanted to thank you, f-for the sweater,” Waverly was obviously shivering from the cold, but she did her best to smile in appreciation.

“Oh! Uh, it’s no problem at all, considering I’m the reason you had to wear it in the first place,” Nicole laughed sheepishly, feeling heat rising in her cheeks and silently thanking the weather that her face was already red from the cold.

“Well, I also probably wasn’t very approachable this morning either. I know it must be hard for everyone here, adjusting to someone they don’t even know in the middle of a school year. All my classes today seemed uncomfortable, and I’m sure a lot of the teachers around here feel the same. B-But, you were really nice today and I have been so worried that I wouldn’t meet anybody, and I just wanted to say that I really do appreciate it. I’ll uh... I’ll make sure to get this washed and return it to you,” Waverly’s voice was soft and genuine as she gestured to the sweater still adorning her torso, and Nicole couldn’t help but grin in response.

“Eh, I’ve got a million just like it, you can go ahead and keep it,” she offered, then immediately realized what she’d just said out loud. “I mean, if you want to!” now it was Nicole’s turn to stutter as she tripped over her words. “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to, I was just offering, in case you... You maybe needed one, but it’s probably too big on you anyways, and I... Gosh I’m an idiot-“ before she could continue any further, the biology teacher was cut off by laughter, and she paused to see Waverly giggling uncontrollably in front of her.

“I’d love to keep it, if you’ve got a million more. I should probably get going, but uh... It was nice meeting you Nicole,” Waverly hugged the sweater to herself as she offered one last smile, then turned and headed for her own car.

“Nice to meet you too!” Nicole called out after her, then quickly hurried across the parking lot and jumped in her car, her heart beating wildly against her chest and her cheeks burnt crimson from more than just the cold.

“Shit Nicole, you can’t do this to yourself again, snap out of it,” she muttered to herself, shaking her head a few times as if it would clear her thoughts. She’d learned first hand that rushing into things lead to nothing but confusion and tension, and she wasn’t even sure if Waverly would turn out to be more than a colleague across the hall anyway. Despite something deep in her stomach telling her otherwise, Nicole chose to ignore it, and instead distracted herself by pressing resume on her CD player, filling the car with the sound of an overplayed soundtrack of Christmas songs that she hadn’t yet bothered to switch with something else.

Yes, she had already made plenty of mistakes with Riley- Some of them more than once- And she definitely didn’t need to be taught those lessons again.

**Author's Note:**

> So, how did you enjoy the first chapter? Let me know what you think down in the comments! I always love hearing back from you guys!


End file.
